


How to Train Your Light Fury

by The_Archives_of_Silver



Category: How to Train Your Dragon (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Astrid and the Light Fury AU, Currently a oneshot, Gen, Minor Hiccstrid, Personality exploration for the Light Fury, may write more, swap au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-29
Updated: 2020-02-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 18:48:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,499
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22468156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Archives_of_Silver/pseuds/The_Archives_of_Silver
Summary: No one believes a young Astrid Hofferson when she said she shot down a Light Fury.
Relationships: Astrid Hofferson & Light Fury
Comments: 9
Kudos: 20





	1. Chapter 1

In the woods, a young Viking wanders about, looking at her notebook. Taking her charcoal pencil, she scratched out another part of the area she had finished surveying. It was unusual to see a young Viking alone in the woods. What could have brought her to such circumstances.

Well, no one believed her when she claimed to have shot down a Light Fury.

Astrid Hofferson was the daughter of a prominent Viking maiden, one of the most ferocious Viking slayers of Berk, Berta the Brave. Berta was a fierce warrior that wanted her daughter to do two things; kill dragons and marry a dragon killer. Particularly, Berta has her eyes on a potential suitor for her daughter. Hiccup Horrendous Haddock III. Slender but strong, Hiccup was very popular for his wit, strategy, and skill. He lead fire control and as soon as he earned his mark from Dragon Training, everyone was sure he’d be slaying dragons left and right.

What she wouldn’t give to have everything he had? Where Hiccup was a handsome, natural born dragon killer with the respect of the community, Astrid was a thin, short girl waiting for her chance to prove herself to everyone. She had the brains and spent day after day training to be strong.

Finally her hard training had paid off. Using a slingshot mechanism she made, she stood on a cliff side. A low trill filled the air, softly echoing. It was nearby. Light Furies were incredibly rare. The Light Fury was one of the fastest dragons out there. No one would ever see more that the end of its wings and tail before an explosion of fire would go off and either kill the spectator or the smoke would obscure the creature. A flash of white and a blast of fire and the unholy offspring of light and death would disappear.

Astrid had seen the telltale flash of white and a blast of fire and smoke. That’s when she fired and the creature yowled, disappearing over the treetops of Raven’s point. She had done it! She caught the Light Fury!

And no one believed her. 

No sooner had she won, she was attacked by a hulking Monstrous Nightmare. The beastie jumped her and attempted to eat her whole. Thank Odin, her mother came along and scared it off with a battle cry and punch right in Its scaly snout. Of course, damages were done in the chase as the Nightmare’s lava spit destroyed a pillar and caused a chain reaction Bork the Very Very Unfortunate would cringe at.

When she tried to tell her mom about the Light Fury, she was silenced. Her mother, in front of everyone, scolded her for lying.   


“No one saw and there is no way you caught a Light Fury!” she boomed. “It cannot be done! Now off with you! I have your mess to clean up.”

All the other kids, Fishlegs, Snotlout, Ruffnut, Tuffnut, and even Hiccup watched her pass. Hiccup looked so disappointed, just shaking his head and telling the others to get to cleaning.

That infuriated her beyond belief. 

So here she was, out to prove to everyone that she wasn’t lying. Of course, Odin seemed to hate her guts. Everyone else lost socks or tools, yet she managed to lose a whole downed dragon in one evening! She swatted a branch furiously as she passed by. Of course, in swatting she didn’t see the sudden dip in the ground. She yelled as her foot slipped as she flopped over and landed hard on her side with a loud thump. 

Rubbing her hip with a low growl, she stood up and her eyes fell on the path. It dipped unnaturally, like the earth had been split by a massive force. Trees had fallen to the side, splintered trunks and scattered branches. Astrid followed the newly laid path and upon going over a massive pile of stones, reeled back in terror at a massive white form that lay on the other side. She dropped to her knees, trying to catch the breath the fear forced out of her. Shaking as she peeked over the edge, she took in the sight of the beast. 

It’s was white, longer than a nadder with a wingspan thrice that of a gronkle. As she climbed down, she pulled her ax from its holster. Her hands shook as she surveyed the white beast. 

Upon closer inspection, the dragon’s scales were glassy, shimmering in the light pike tiny, flat pearls. They were pressed together so fine, the creature looked smooth; a far cry from the scaly, bumpy dragons she had typically seen. She was reminded of the scales on some dragons from the Tidal Class and beluga whales. 

It’s wings looked more like fins, lipped in blue and marked with a very faint, light blue ripple pattern that glittered. This creature probably spent a great deal of time in the water. Unlike many dragons, this creature had no underbite or horns. Instead, it had four little nubs, probably used for echolocation. With a short snout and cute pointed nose, Astrid is reminded of the snow leopards she had seen a couple islands over while fishing with her mother.

The Light Fury lay absolutely still on it’s side, not moving an inch. 

“I did it...” Astrid whispered softly, walking over to the downed beast. “I did it!”

She throws her head back and laughs triumphantly. 

“Yes, I have brought down this mighty beast!” she shouted out as if anyone was listening, setting her foot on the arm of the dead creature. 

The creature’s arm suddenly surged upwards and knocked Astrid back onto her rump. She landed hard and scrambled back to her feet. Holding her ax to her chest, her gaze traveled up the body one to the face of the creature. The dragon watched her with bright, glowing blue eyes. It’s pupils were narrowed slits and itschest heaved with labored breaths.

Well, it wasn’t dead.

Astrid’s knees buckled slightly and her clammy hands shook around the handle of her weapon. She tried to steel herself but staring into the eyes of one of the most lethal, elusive dragon to scourge Berk took her breath away with both awe and terror. 

Remember what you came her for, she reminded herself. Despite her shaking hands, she held her weapon fast.

“I’m going to kill you, dragon,” she said, taking a deep breath. “I-I’m going to cut off your head and give it to my mother. I am a Viking!”

The dragon groaned lowly, watching her with terrified eyes. Astrid raised her ax above her head and shut her eyes tight as she prepared to swing it down. In just a second, she’d have everything she dreamed of, the respect of her people, the recognition of her mother, every boy in the island falling over themselves just to get her to look their way, and proof of her status as a Viking warrior!

She set her jaw and tightened her grip on the ax. “I am a viking!” she shouted, eyes screwed shut in her concentration.

A soft whimper from the Light Fury at her feet made her peek at her. The pitiful thing had weakly lift it’s head to look up at her. She could see her reflection in those blue pools and for a second, Astrid couldn’t tell whether the fear within was hers or the Light Fury’s. Astrid screwed her eyes closed tightly and raised the ax back higher, trying to gather her strength.

There was a soft thump that made her peek through her eyelashes. The Light Fury has laid its head down and closed its eyes with a soft whine as if to say, “Go on. Get it over with.”

There was a soft thud as Astrid’s grip on her ax loosened and her arms dropped to her sides, the ax hitting the floor lightly. The Light Fury did not move, just breathing slow and severely, like it was waiting for that breath to be cut short.

Astrid, looked at the series of ropes around the creature and she felt guilt bubble up in her chest. “I did this,” she mumbled, stepping back.

She thought she ought to turn and go back. She’d leave the creature and run home. She pretend this never happened and just wait for things to die out. She’d slay a gronkle or something. Despite every reasonable part of her brain telling her to run, she couldn’t just leave the dragon as it was. Tied up and hurt, it wouldn’t stand a chance. A downed dragon is a dead dragon.

Astrid sighed and raised her ax. Loki himself must have messed with her mind if she was really going to go through with this. She swung her ax and sliced through one of the biggest tangles in the ropes.

The Light Fury flinched and opened its eyes in surprise as the ropes began to fall loose. Astrid set the ax down and began to pull the ropes across the blade, sawing through them.

As soon as the ropes began to spring free, the dragon suddenly didn’t seem so hurt. It surged up, twisted around, and pounced. Astrid screamed and tried to scramble back, inadvertently pressing against a wall. The dragon’s small but heavy foot pinned her chest against the rock, holding her in place. 

If Astrid screamed, no one would hear her. She doubted the dragon above her would care. Blood pounds in her ears and she feels faint with unabashed terror. She doesn’t even bother to hide it, completely against her mother’s lessons. It’s not like the Lightfury would care. It stares down without blinking, it’s pupils thin slits in the pools of icy blue. It pulls its lips back- so many teeth- and begins to hiss out telltale sound of a blast being prepared. Astrid looks away and squeezes her eyes shut. 

_ Just get it over with. _

The gurgling hiss became a whining screech before the Light Fury slammed down and screamed loudly into her face. Immediately, the dragon turned and leaped off into the woods, the faint silhouette of the creature flitting in the shadows before there was a burst of fire and it was seen no more.

Astrid’s knees felt weak and she was wonderfully overwhelmed with dizzying relief. 

_ I’m alive. I’m alive! _

Somewhere in her adrenaline high mind, she decided that was more than enough dragon hunting forever and ever. She stood on quaking legs and made for home. Well she tried. She fainted before she could get two steps in.


	2. Fondness

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Astrid finds the Light Fury again

Astrid really shouldn’t have come back to the woods. She got away by sheer luck that the Light Fury decided to be merciful. Yet that was exactly why she was here.

Dragons always, always went for the kill. She learned that in dragon training. Oh boy, was the concept of her training tough on its own. No sooner did she decide she wasn’t going to kill dragons, she finds out  Mother Dearest  had decided to sign her up for dragon trainer. Of course Astrid tried to tell her that she didn’t want to but her mother just wouldn’t listen. Like always.

Classes started within the next couple of days while her mom was on a voyage with Stoic the Vast, no doubt killing dragons and trying to arrange a marriage between her daughter and his son.

Speaking of that, Hiccup was in her new class. 

That was..... complicated. Yeah, complicated was a good way to say it.

She found Hiccup extremely attractive. Everyone with two eyes could see was a handsome young man. Yet his pride was insufferable. He’d strut in like he was the nicest thing in boots and it made her stomach turn. With infatuation or disgust, she did not know.

_ Focus Astrid. Task at hand, remember? Task at hand. _

She managed to retrace her steps back to the spot that she caught the dragon. The cut ropes of her bola were still there, tangled up. She picked up the rounded weight of one, looking at it thoughtfully.

“A dragon always goes for the kill,” she said quietly. “So why didn’t you?”

_ Maybe it pitied me? Maybe... _

She wandered about looking for any sign of her missing dragon. She wandered for about half an our until something struck her odd. A small glint of light reflected off something and flashed in her eye. Squinting as she approached she found a series of small, translucent white scales. Picking up one, she’s amazed by the smooth, somewhat glassy texture. The were sprinkled just along the edge of a pit, fallen trees and a small pond at the bottom. The pit was deep and had small crevices only a human could fit through. The Light Fury may have stopped by to rest and flew off when it recuperated. Astrid looked back to the lovely scale.

A sudden blast of wind and a trill made her jump and duck for cover. 

The Light Fury had flown up along the side before falling back down to the bottom and gliding to a stop. It yowled and tried again, hitting the side and slipping down. It pushed off the rock it crashed into and glided to the bottom of the pit.

It rested there, snarling and panting from the effort. Astrid quickly pulled out her notebook and sketched the beast. From her vantage point, she could see the full length of the dragon. 

_Rounded wings to reduce drag with that pattern; definitely semi aquatic. The spine down the back wasn’t made up of individual scales... unusual. Look at those teeny feet! Do all Light Furies have that? Maybe it doesn’t need big ones. Most likely female. Male dragons tend to have more head decorations...._

The Light Fury let out a frustrated blast of plasma and cleaned her scuffed side before trying again. She flew up along the side but fell once again. 

“Why don’t you just fly away?” Astrid said softly, watching the creature’s failed attempts. 

She notice that something about the dragon’s tail flukes wasn’t quite right. It was missing on her right side. She couldn’t fly without equal balance. Astrid rubbed away the charcoal in her picture to make it match.

Setting her charcoal and notebook down, she admired the pearly creature. The Light Fury limped over your the pool and took a long drink before lying down. A movement on the pond surface made her little “ears” perk. A fish was close enough in reach and she dove beneath the surface and popped out with the wriggling fish in her jaws. She scarfed it down and dove back for more.

The pond was deep enough to submerge but there didn’t seem to be an entry point. Food would run out and the Light Fury would starve over time. 

_ Should I do something about it? No! She let me live last time, but there’s no guarantee she’ll let me walk away again! _

_ But... it is my fault she’s in this position. I grounded her permanently. With a ruined tail like that, there’s no way she’ll fly again. _

While lost in thought, her charcoal had fallen down the side, hitting rocks along the way and making just enough of a ruckus to get the tired and more than a little cranky dragon’s attention. The Light Fury raised her head and stared at Astrid, pupils little slits. She didn’t attack. Just stared hard at her. Watching her.

Finally, Astrid backed out of the little stare off and went home. 

She knew what she had to do.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Food did run out for the Light Fury. She seemed to stress eat. That was one thing Astrid had in common with the dragon. There were no more fish to catch and she sulked about when she wasn’t trying to fly. Astrid waited a day before coming down into the ravine, fish in hand. 

She at first scouted to see where the Light Fury was but there was no sign of the pretty thing. She climbed down through a small enough crevice and hid behind a rock, looking around. No sign of the Light Fury.

“There’s no way she could’ve gotten out,” Astrid said under her breath. “Right?”

Walking into the center of the clearing, she stopped at the edge of the pond and looked in.No fish and no exit. Where did she go?

A soft growl made Astrid turn on her heels and almost fall into the water. There were a pair of eyes behind her. No, not just eyes. The air around them seemed to be distorted. They circled her and as the did, the Light Fury seemed to just fade into view. No one ever mentioned invisibility in the Book of Dragons! Well, no one had ever met one and lived to tell the tale so maybe that was why.

The Light Fury stared her down, her haunches shifting as she either prepared to attack or run. Astrid shakily held out the fish she had brought for the Light Fury. For a second, the dragon’s eyes dilated but she stayed away, glancing at the ax on the viking’s back. Astrid carefully removed it from its holster, flinching at the dragon’s growl, and tossed it away. It hit the water with a big splash.

It’s ok, she could always make another.

The Light Fury looked at Astrid, to the rippling water, and back to Astrid. Her eyes dilated and she sat down, letting out a tiny clicking sound. Astrid held out the fish and let the dragon come to her. The Light Fury inched forward, her wings tucked and she opened her mouth. It was full of small, sharp teeth, some slightly crooked and uneven in a slightly endearing way. Funny how something so dangerous could be cute when they are docile. Astrid let the Light Fury’s teeth set around the fish and watched as she yanked it away and swallowed it whole. The dragon chittered and mewled out a little happy song, licking her lips and nodding her head cheerfully.

She really did look and sound like a beluga whale.

Huh.

The Light Fury looked down at Astrid and carefully leaned forward to sniff her.

“I don’t have anymore fish,” Astrid said, opening her hands to reveal that she, indeed, had no more fish.

The Light Fury sniffed for a moment and sneezed, crinkling her nose like something smelled bad.

_Ok, rude._

She suddenly began to make a sound. It was gurgled and chuffing. Then it was gagging. She dipped her head down and dropped the front fish half of the fish at Astrid’s feet then sat back, licking her lips. Her eyes were wide and looked more cat-like than dragon. Astrid looked down at the gross thing and back to the dragon. The dragon looked back. Her eyes flickered to her and to the fish then to her.

_ What does she want? _

Astrid picked up the fish, cringing at the slimy texture. Did the dragon want her to feed it to her again? Gross but ok?

She tried to hold out the fish to the dragon but the Light Fury pushed the food back to her with a tiny foot. 

_Oh. Oh no_.

Astrid stifled a gag and looked at the half of the fish in her hands. It was slightly slimy with dragon spit. _Gross gross gross!_

She’d just pretend to eat the thing. Maybe that would get her out of this. She raised to to her lips high enough to cover her mouth and pretended to bite. She chewed and swallowed the pretend bite and for good measure, made a delightful, “mmm!”

The Light Fury was not impressed and she snorted disapprovingly. Astrid grimaced in disgust. 

“There’s no way I’m getting out of this, am I?” she asked.

The Light Fury just stared expectantly, blinking with those big blues. Astrid sighed in defeat and hesitated as she bit into the fish. She tried to stifle her gag at the disgustingly slimy texture and bland taste that managed to make it even worse. Trying to not throw up the “gift” she swallowed and cringed at the unpleasant sensation of it sliding down her gullet. She shuddered in disgust and shoved down the growing queasiness.

The Light Fury cooed in contentment, ears perking. 

Astrid weakly smiled. The Light Fury’s expression turn curious and slowly, her maw peeled back to show off her teeth. Slowly but surely the Light Fury made her best attempt at a smile. It was crooked and lopsided but very obvious that it was a best attempt.

Astrid couldn’t help but feel wonder and awe as the Light Fury mimicked her. She was more intelligent than any dragon she’d seen. Everyone knew dragons could be smart but this was something new. Sharing food as thanks, sparring her life when Astrid freed her, and performing human like actions.

Perhaps this beautiful creature was actually warming up to her! The thought was thrilling. The first viking to ever befriend a dragon! A friend.

Astrid raised her hand to pet the creature, somewhat affectionate from her musings. The Light Fury’s smile dropped and she turned tail and took off with a growl. She glided gracelessly down into the dirt and promptly began grooming her scales, the vain little thing.

As soon as she finished, she climbed into tree and using her tail, hung upside down and wrapped her wings around herself all snuggly.

Astrid carefully walked up, soundless on the powdery sand. Inches away, she raised her hand to try and brush her fingers along the membrane of her wing. The wings suddenly opened up as the Light Fury peeked her snout out of her wings. She look annoyed, eyes slightly narrowed and nose crinkled.

Astrid jumped and backed off, stepping away awkwardly. The Light Fury didn’t look away until Astrid was a good distance away, right by a large rock by the pond. When Astrid sag on the rock, the Light Fury pulled her wings over her face.

Best not to bother her again. Astrid stood up and made her way out of the hollow. She’d come back the next day after training.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nursing a couple bruises from facing off against a Nadder in training, Astrid returned to the hollow. After embarrassing herself in front of Hiccup of course. They had crashed into each other while running through the maze Gobber had set up. She was too busy asking Gobber about Light Furies to really notice the Nadder chasing him and almost got them killed.

Using her shield, he swung and bashed the charging Nadder in the face. Without missing a beat, he turned and glared at her.

“Do you want to get all of us killed?! This war is ours too! Make sure you know which side you’re on!”

Well... he was nice enough to help her up so that’s something. Right now she just had to take her mind off it so dropping in to visit and feed the Light Fury again was a good idea. 

“I’m back,” Astrid announced, plopping down on the rock to draw. She set down the fish she brought on the floor near the rock and pulled out her notebook.

Light Fury was sleeping in the same tree and Astrid couldn’t help but wonder if she had stayed asleep the whole time she was gone. Taking up her pencil, she began to scribble away. Eventually, she got bored of that and began to draw on her skin, imagining the war paint she’d use in a fight.

She began to draw on her arm a rounded head with big eyes and little nubs for ears and horns. As she drew, she felt a shadow cast over her shoulder a musical trill of curiosity and quiet chewing. She didn’t look over for fear the Light Fury would turn tail and run. So she kept doodling.

_ A goofy smile there, big happy eyes here. _

The Light Fury behind her cooed and suddenly a big foot was planted right next to Astrid. She turned her head and looked up at the creature. Beluga looked back, eyes flitting down to the charcoal in Astrid’s hand and back to her face. She snorted slightly, bobbing her head slightly. Astrid could only guess what she meant. 

_ Me too, please? _

Astrid shifted to face the dragon, crossing her legs underneath herself. She almost pressed her hand to the dragon’s leg but a growl warded her off. 

_Ok, don’t touch her,_ Astrid noted. _Only the pencil._

Careful not to touch the dragon with her hand as she drew, she traced a long line up the creature’s foreleg. It swirled at the end and more lines joined it as Astrid drew the charcoal up the dragon’s foreleg. It twisted and turned until each line formed a twining branch. She dotted little flowers and bulbs along the glittering scales and not once did she touch the dragon with her hand.

The Light Fury did not move an inch. Her big blue eyes watched Astrid intensely, glittering with wonder at what the small human did. 

Astrid pulled away and smiled at her handy work. The little line had become a beautiful tree and Astrid felt a surge of pride for it. It looked good and by the way the dragon held her leg up to admire it confirmed that. She trilled and cooed, turning her head to admire every aspect, her ear-nubs perked like a cat’s.

When the Light Fury looked up, their eyes met. She did not look away. It was breathtaking to be so close to such a beautiful animal and for her to not run away.

_ Maybe... We can be friends, after all. _

Carefully, Astrid raised her hand to touch the creature. The Light Fury growled softly and slightly tilted her head away, yet her pupils remained round. 

Ducking her head down, Astrid closed her eyes and stretched her arm out slightly. After a moment all she could feel was the Light Fury’s warm breath on her palm.

Then cool texture of scales pressed to her skin. Astrid looked up carefully and let out a soft gasp. The Light Fury had closed her eyes and pressed her nose to Astrid’s open hand.

The girl didn’t dare to move, just staring up at the Light Fury with eyes lit up with wonder. The Light Fury pulled away after a moment, blue eyes gentle and kind. She looked down at her decorated leg and backed away, looking down at it as she walked. She went back to her tree, scaled up it, and admired the design on her foreleg. 

Astrid decided its time to leave. The sun would set in an hour and she had to get back before dark. She slips out through the crevice and begins the walk home.

As she walks, she thinks about the Light Fury in such close proximity. Like the white whales from up north, curious and almost musical in sound.

“Beluga... not a bad name.”

**Author's Note:**

> In my house, we respect the Light Fury. 😤
> 
> Basically a series of drabbles based on a role swap concept I had. Currently just a oneshot but I may write more. 
> 
> Please be civil. Constructive criticism is welcome.


End file.
